Andy Roddick beats Lleyton Hewitt to reach semi-final in Memphis
The world number eight, Andy Roddick beat Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the quarter-final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships on Friday night. Roddick outplayed the former world number one in a three-set thriller by 4-6, 6-3 and 6-4, taking two hours
and thirty minutes to qualify for the semi-final of the event in Memphis.
The two-time champion Andy Roddick continued his supreme form at the ATP tour. His victory against the familiar rival Hewitt was another display of his sheer brilliance and class. The 28-year-old American was very athletic in the contest and his agility
certainly negated his age. Despite an early stumble in the opening set of the match, the top seed recovered very skilfully to win the contest later. Roddick is respected for his express serve and it was once again the critical success factor in his match.
The American cracked 21 thundering aces into Hewitt’s court and had a phenomenal first serve percentage. His rapid serve topped the 140mph mark on regular occasions during the exciting match. Roddick captured 46 first-serve points out of a total of 58.
The top seed had a shaky start to the contest and gifted a double-fault to the Aussie in his opening serve game. Roddick repeated the error once more before Hewitt broke his serve in the first game of the opener. The American strained to get his eye in the
game and gave away another double-fault at a crucial point to fall behind 0-30, trailing 3-5. The Australian capitalised on the mistakes of Roddick to clinch the opening set by 6-4.
“He was playing better early on,” Roddick said of Hewitt. “I haven’t gotten off to the best starts in two out of three of my matches. I’m going to have to start playing better from the get-go.”
Roddick revised his game plan and had a good check upon his error count in the second set. He played good aggressive tennis to lift the pressure off from him. The American broke Hewitt in the fourth game when the Aussie thumped the ball into the net. Roddick
faced less resistance from his opponent in the second set and served out of it easily at 6-3.
Roddick pushed the Aussie for an early serve break in the decisive set to lead 2-0. A routine set reached the score of 5-3 for the American. Roddick squandered four match points on Hewitt’s serve at 5-3 and further failed to convert two more match points
at 5-4. Finally a 135mph ace from the American’s racket sealed victory for him at 6-4 and booked him a place in the semi-finals.
Roddick will be squaring off against Juan Martin Del Potro to fight for a place in the final. The Argentine is also in sublime touch and assertively defeated Michael Russell in straight sets by 6-4 and 6-2 in the quarter-final. Keep in mind that Roddick
will not be the only contestant with big serve in the semi-final as Del Potro is also well known for his powerful serve game. The semi-final will be an exciting game as the two top players battle it out for a place in the finals.
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